As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.

How is it already June? I fell behind on sweeps a month ago and I have now officially gotten LAZY with about half a dozen episodes left, no desire to watch my post-season shows, and a Glee finale writeup on hold and poised to deliver a repeat of season 1 where it comes out in July if we're lucky. (I have the box scene. I need nothing else.) This all may or may not be related to the fact that I have had to use actual brainpower to process CSI: NY for the first time in nine months and I wanted to do it justice.

Of course, TV-lazy = me being ridiculously active in terms of getting out of the house. Exercise! It's pretty awesome.

Went 'round to a bunch of garage sales on Saturday. I exercised extreme restraint and bought very little, but saw a lot of great stuff and came away with a brand-new stretchy t-shirt and the most WONDERFULLY soft pink scarf with fringed edges for $1 apiece. The scarf's 100% polyester but I don't even know how to describe its lush plushness. I've probably petted out half the softness already.

The shirt is there mostly to give you an idea of how long the scarf is, since it's a pretty plain v-neck.

And then I caught up on one more show.

CSI: NY, 8x17, "Unwrapped"I got disproportionately attached to Kelvin The Accountant right away, so I spent all my time being sad and not caring about the people doing the investigating. Although the Maneki-Neko statue knockoffs were cute. Otherwise, this whole show exists solely to be a slow-burn progression of The Courtship Of Mac and Christine, so let's talk about how cute she is while trying to find a suitable/suitably impressive gift for Lucy. (my vote: "Ooh, ponies!") Or perhaps while stealing him away to find a private corner in which to kiss him at work, because geeze.

I was intense about Mac/Peyton for a long time, but this is the first time I've really been able to let go of that. I think maybe that was more about the moments than Peyton herself. Christine is someone I love on her own merit. She seems like the opposite of Claire in several ways, but I think what has made me take such a striking charm to her face is how...not exactly timid (well, kind of), but quiet she is. It feels like Claire was Mac's opposite in that regard, where Christine's more like him. I look at her and think "soft." Soft spoken, soft demeanor, a girl-next-door quality, sweet. And despite her past connection, the fact that by and large she is so completely out of his world makes her that much more likable. It is hard for ordinary characters to break into crime show ranks. They're doing something exceptionally right with this one.----8x18, "Near Death"I'm not even sure I have words for how blown away I am by this show when it nails everything dead on. That was magnificent. Season winner, no contest.

Think I'm going to do this scene by scene; is only way I can begin to wrap my head around it.

IntroFirst time I have ever been grateful to start at the high point, maybe because it doesn't so much rewind as feed the story along with flashbacks, syncing up to present time rather quickly, and then intercut with the limbo scenes it is just SPECTACULAR pacing. But as for the actual intro, I love the creepy-in-context waltz music, and that stupid pill slow-motion dropping and bouncing in a pool of blood is mesmerizing every time I open the episode up. Oh! I just realized that the season began with a drop of falling blood, too. Good parallels, very good.

In LimboI like the theme of dark and fuzzy screens everywhere; this was well structured. I haven't decided how much of this to take as reality, but for my own piece of mind, I choose to believe that Claire is real, while all the visits from his team were his subconscious stitching together his own thoughts with words from what people said out loud while keeping vigil after surgery, before Christine**. This theory doesn't quite account for Hawkes or Sid, but shhh.

**The timeline is helpfully vague, but I'm pretty sure she is wearing two different shirts between her last scenes, so who knows how long he was actually out.

CLAIRE CONRAD TAYLORMy face as soon as she steps into the light:

When he can take her hand for the first time in how long, and it's all so very pretty and "I'm glad you're here with me" and "God, I love you," and of course she's the anchoring point amidst this confusion. Plus:

2012: The year in which all my ships decide to throw around "you are the love of my life."

Hospital-Appreciated all the surgery scenes. I forget how nice it is when it's done for you and you don't have to hijack the Grey's Anatomy patients and squint to see it.

-Loathe Jo clinging to Flack because damn it, woman, why are you herrrre and this should be Stella; this is all 100% Stella reacting. Photoshop all the things, Tumblr! And by all I mean this specific moment right here.

-Love Christine's rush in, though. Jo continues to be awful at emoting, confusing me once again with her odd facial expressions while talking to Christine until I realized that was supposed to be her "trying to stay strong but crumbling" face and that the odd tone in her voice was "trying not to cry." Christine handles it much better, fitting nicely into that slot where you haven't been together long enough to collapse in a distraught mess, but long enough both for you to have a reason to be here, worried and afraid and teary but quiet. That is her thing, after all.

-Still cackling at "Mac Llewellyn Taylor." Well, all of his names couldn't be ordinary and plain like that. It has a nice ring to it.

CaselineFlack (heavily winded): Son of a bitch. You run track or something? You on the Olympic team?Mac: *snickers while cuffing suspect*Flack: Is this - (breath) - is this funny to you? You realize you were in an automobile, right? You were not running sixty miles an hour.Mac: You want a ride back to the precinct, or are you walking?Flack: Ride please.

I just needed to document that somewhere, as it cracks me up every time. I thought the whole thing was nicely paced, starting out relatively ordinary but with sympathetic bank-robbing victims, and ramping up the excitement levels by hurrying to the present day just when you need it most. Loved everything from Lindsay staring at the bloodstain to Flack rewinding that moment over and over and over and that truly fantastic bus lot maze chase. Along with a nice parallel I was not expecting about Flack standing over a murderer, but this time choosing the path of light. (but really, how easy is it to shoot a pretty girl of maybe 20, as opposed to a criminal dirtbag?)

And even knowing exactly when he got shot, I still somehow didn't suspect that scared-looking teen for a second, and the shot made me jump. Good work on element of surprise!

P.S. This is my favorite scene in the case; look at all the cuteness. Especially once the cat's done hissing, look how it stretches toward her, aww.

JoAs soon as he started listing off what he'd miss about everyone, my brain perked up and went, "Well, that sounds like vignette-collection prompt if I ever heard one." (in the meantime, ignoring everything Jo says unless and until Tumblr Tumblr-izes it by overlaying her quotes with gifs of Stella). The show did too, and proceeded to give us a spectacular collage of meetings, but I still think someone could do a collection of moments highlighting those character traits, whether he's part of the scene or just observing.

FlackSo, I am not quite sure if we're meant to take this as canon or just Mac's brain making theories, but right now I don't care becauseYOU LOVED JESSTHREE YRSSCREAMING!^ are what the barely-keywords notes I managed to slap out looked like, or translated --

Flack: You know, I didn't even tell Jess that I loved her before she died? I'm 0 for 2 on this whole concept of stepping up before it's too late.Mac/Entire Fandom: You loved Jess?Flack: (nodding) And it still hurts that she's gone. It's been 3 years, and...the pain is as real as if it's only been 3 months.

So, there you go, everyone. You and I and everyone who was there are still pretty sure they were not actually at the "I love you" stage when she got shot, but they were so pretty and cute so maybe they working their way over there. Tragedy accelerates and heightens all feelings, and when you don't get a chance to follow up on them, it's a lot easier for regret to fester and stew, to wallow in remorse. So yes, I will absolutely believe in this as canon. I suppose ostensibly this scene is supposed to be about how Flack went rogue and revenge-murdery and Mac's quiet knowledge of it/refusal to act on it or acknowledge it, but meh. I always forget that even happened.

But basically, even once the shipper flails die down, you are left with a glorious friendship scene* that reminds me why they are one of the few platonic relationships worth watching this show for.

*Complete with hugging

HawkesMac: Going home to someone you love is nice. Something I miss.RS: *attempting to contain self*Mac: I never became a father because I never felt it was the right time. Kept putting it off until next year. It was always going to be next year, and that's something I regret.Hawkes: You can still be a father.Me: (containing self: failed) Excuse you, what business do you have putting that idea in my head? I thought I outgrew "eeh babiez" mode when I hit 25; don't put false expectations in my corner. His current relationship is still young and fragile and overanticipation could spook it right out of existence. Let's not forget the lesson we learned from Aubrey.

In other news: Has Hawkes secretly been in a relationship this whole time since...whenever it was that we last saw Camille? Because that sounds like it would quietly enrage a bunch of Hawkes stans in the lack-of-seeing-stuff department.

I was initially sad they had to share one while freaking Adam wasted time on his own, but then the following wonderful things happened in quick succession.

1. MAC + LUCY = HEAVEN. And oh my word, their child got cute. We should be seeing more of her at this age.

2. Oh, hell yes: I thought it was going to be impossible to uproot Danny from this city, but apparently by the time Lucy hits 5 there is a very real possibility they will bounce to raise her somewhere better. That's what I've been saying! BRB, redoubling efforts to get this show canceled so that can happen faster.

3. Mac/Lindsay hugging of a nature even more precious than with Lucy, and it just doesn't end; it is the hug that goes on forever.

4. And then she leaves and it's Slash Shipper Fan Service Day/Normal Person Flail Mode with simple, effective "I love you"s being thrown around and nothing more needing to be said. I am fond of the fact that we have chosen to go with All You Need Is Love as the theme of this finale.

Claire, Part III liked the regrets about not spending enough time with her (what I'm hearing is canon endorsement of The Only Living Boy In New York). And I love that it's "I miss you," because always, but also "I met someone," because it's appropriate. It has always been the hardest thing for me, in fiction, to reconcile losing the person you'd do anything to have back while still finding a way to move on. And this is one of the first if not the first time it's really been staggeringly clear to me.

This feels like the closure I rejected in September as too soon, but now I'm ready for it. That pouty "You can't come, you're not invited" brought a smile to my face. Be happy, Mac, indeed. And farewell (?), Claire. Your intermittent presence was ostensibly responsible for 2/3 of the episodes that didn't suck this year. Forever indebted.

I may or may not have screamed at the sight of her praying the rosary. Like, just, everything that is right with the world and with these particular characters, encapsulated in a moment.

Imagery theme for the 2011-2012 season: complete.

I wish it had closed on that last shot. I'm guessing if their renewal status had been certain, they would have, because the epilogue feels very tacked-on as a way to reassure folks that despite what you may have heard, this team isn't ready to disband just yet and they won't cut you loose with such insufficient group closure. It's still a nice tag that sets you up with a structural timeline until they return (unlike, what's the word, GLEE), but it doesn't seem particularly necessary. That said: you heard the show, Mac is officially not working at crime scenes for six months. Fill in those blanks.

In conclusion: once again, the series has managed to craft a perfect series finale, only to be brought back from death's door at the last possible second. Eventually, they are going to run out of steam. I have no faith in their ability to do this a third time/when it actually counts, so...prove me wrong, guys. And in the meantime, I think it's pretty clear that the only reason season 9 is going forward is so it can be all Christine, all the time. If you even think about pulling another punk-ass premiere move of "lol bye, Mac's girlfriend is long gone," I will have to hunt you down.